New Research Finds The Best Strategy On How To Lose Weight

Most of us know that the best strategy on how to lose weight is to reduce our calorie intake. But actually reducing the amount of calories that we consume is easier said than done.

A new study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center may help us with basic strategies on how to eat less and lose weight safely.

After studying 123 overweight to obese and sedentary women ranging in ages from 50 to 75, researchers find that

• Women who keep journals on the type of foods, and the amount of food that they eat lose more weight than women who do not keep food journals
• Women who do not skip meals lose more weight than women who do skip meals
• And women who do not eat out for lunch often lose more weight than women who do frequently eat out for lunch.

Based on their findings, the researchers recommend that postmenopausal women maintain a food journal, eat out less often, especially for lunch, and eat at regular intervals to help lose weight successfully.

When keeping a food journal, the researchers also recommend that you

• Be honest by recording everything that you eat
• Be accurate by measuring portions and reading labels
• Be complete in you recording by including how the food is prepared and whether any toppings or condiments are added to the food
• And be consistent by always carrying your food journal with you and faithfully record what and when you eat

These are simple tools that you can use to help you lose weight successfully.

Charles A. Pennison

Reference:

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: " Want to lose Weight? "

Changing The Time of Day When You Eat May Help Prevent Obesity And Diabetes

Changing the time of day when you eat, rather than what you eat, may help you maintain a healthy weight and prevent diabetes.

That is the result of a very interesting study by the researchers at the Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory.

This is a study that was conducted with mice, but may have relevance to humans. However, human tests will have to be conducted to make that claim.

This is what the researchers found. When mice were restricted to eating during an 8 hour period and forced to fast during the remaining 16 hours of the day, they weighed less and were healthier than mice that could eat whenever they wanted to eat.

Just think about that for a second. If you could restrict your eating to an 8 hour period of the day and fast for the remaining 16 hours, you might be able to reduce your weight and fat content, and be healthier. And you may be able to be healthier without changing what you eat. Just change when you eat, and lengthen the fasting period.

Most of us do not eat during our sleep cycle of about 8 hours. To be healthier and slimmer, just find a way to increase that period of fasting to 16 hours. You don't have to change anything else. However, if you also eat healthier foods and fast for 16 hours, you may become even more healthy.


On the other hand, if you eat around the clock and have very short fasting times, you may have difficulties in maintaining a healthy weight. Not only that, but you also increase your risks of developing diabetes, liver and heart disease.

In other words, the length of your fasting time each day is an important factor in whether or not you can maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk of diabetes, according to this new research study.

The mice that ate around the clock, compared to the mice that had a 16 hour fasting period,

1. Weighed 28% more
2. Developed high cholesterol
3. Had high blood sugar
4. developed liver damage
5. and had diminished motor control

The researchers found that when you eat frequently without fasting, your body keeps making and storing fat, which eventually can lead to liver damage. Your liver also continues to make additional glucose, which raises your blood sugar, which can eventually develop into diabetes.

However, if you fast for several hours, your body makes less fat, glucose and cholesterol. If you regularly fast for long periods each day, your body starts burning fat cells during the fasting period. In addition, instead of producing extra glucose, your body uses that nutrition to repair damaged cells and make new DNA. The net result is lower cholesterol, less fat cells and lower blood sugar levels.

 If you are looking for ways to maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of diabetes without the use of drugs, consider increasing your fasting time every day. This means, of course, no late night snacking.

Charles A. Pennison

References:

Salk Institute for Biological Studies: " Salk Study May Offer Drug-free Intervention To Prevent Obesity and Diabetes "

Can Diabetes Be Prevented or Cured?

Is there anything that an obese patient can do to prevent or possibly cure themselves of diabetes?

Yes according to a study presented at the International Congress of Endocrinology/European Congress of Endocrinology in Florence, Italy.

This study states that lowering your BMI by 5 units can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes. And severely obese patients can possibly rid themselves of diabetes by reducing their weight enough to reduce their BMI by 5 units.

What is BMI?

BMI is an acronym that stands for Body Mass Index.

It is a correlation based on your weight and height to identify potential weight related health problems. The BMI number is categorized as

1. Severly Underweight if it is less than 16.4
2. Underweight if it is from 16.5 to 18.4
3. Normal if it is from 18.5 to 24.9
4. Overweight if it is from 25 to 29.9
5. Obese Class I if it is from 30 to 34.9
6. Obese Class II if it is from 35 to 39.9 and
7. Obese Class III if it is 40 and over.

Results of the Study

For patients who did not lose weight during the 2 and 10 year follow-up, the diabetes incidence rates were

1. 6.5% for patients with a BMI less than 35
2. 7.7% for patients with a BMI between 35 and 40
3. and 9.3% for patients with a BMI greater than 40.

For patients who lost at least 5 BMI units, the diabetes incidence rates were

1. 2.4% for patients with a BMI between 35 and 40
2. 2% for patients with a BMI between 40 and 45 and 
3. 3.4% for patients with a BMI greater than 45.

As you can see, lowering your weight enough to reduce your BMI by 5 units can significantly reduce the likelihood that you will develop diabetes.

How Much Weight Represents 5 BMI Units?

Losing 5 BMI units is not easy, but it can be accomplished. However, it does take dedication by the patient to change their lifestyle significantly for the rest of their lives. With the help of your doctor, dietician or support group, it can be done.

The average man in the US is 5' 10", and the average women in the US is 5' 5". For the average obese man to reduce his BMI by 5 units, he would have to lose 35 pounds. The average obese women would have to lose 31 pounds.

5 Habits of People Who Have Succeeded at Long-Term Weight Loss

1. They have modified their food intake in some way to lose weight. Basically, they eat fewer calories. On average, they eat about 1400 calories each day.
2. They increased their physical activity with walking being their favorite activity. On average, they exercise 1 hour a day.
3. They eat breakfast everyday. Research has shown that a protein rich breakfast will help you snack less often.
4. They weigh themselves at least once a week. Actually, research at the University of Minnesota determined that people who weighted themselves every day lost twice as much weight as people who weighted themselves less often.
5. They watch less than 10 hours of TV each week. This helps them to stay more physically and socially active.

In addition, these successful weight losers limited their fast food intake, cut back on sugars and sweets, and ate more fruits and vegetables.

It does take a lot of work and a dedication to completely change your lifestyle to reduce your weight by 5 BMI units, but research has shown that it is worth the effort to drastically improve your health and fitness and be free of diabetes for life.

Charles A. Pennison

References:

ScienceDaily: " Losing Weight When Obese Can Prevent or Cure Diabetes "
Disabled World: " Height Chart of Men and Women in Different Countries "
Exercise-to-a-healthier-life: " BMI Calculator "
Health and Fitness Articles Blog: " 5 Important Habits of People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept It Off For Over a Year "

5 Important Habits Of People Who Have Lost Weight And Kept It Off For Over A Year

Are you having trouble losing weight and, more importantly, keeping your weight off? If this is you, then keep reading and learn the 5 important habits of people who have lost weight, and kept it off for over a year.

The National Weight Control Registry

The National Weight Control Registry was created by Rena Wing of the Brown Medical School and James O. Hill from the University of Colorado back in 1994. The NWCR has compiled beneficial information on the characteristics of people who have succeeded at long-term weight loss.

5 Habits of People Who Have Succeeded at Long-Term Weight Loss

1. They have modified their food intake in some way to lose weight. Basically, they eat fewer calories. On average, they eat about 1400 calories each day.
2. They increased their physical activity with walking being their favorite activity. On average, they exercise 1 hour a day.
3. They eat breakfast everyday. Research has shown that a protein rich breakfast will help you snack less often.
4. They weigh themselves at least once a week. Actually, research at the University of Minnesota determined that people who weighted themselves every day lost twice as much weight as people who weighted themselves less often.
5. They watch less than 10 hours of TV each week. This helps them to stay more physically and socially active.

In addition, these successful weight losers limited their fast food intake, cut back on sugars and sweets, and ate more fruits and vegetables.

Additional Habits of Skinny People From Men's Health

Here are some additional habits of skinny from the Men's Health article "20 Habits Skinny People Live By":

1. Eat an early dinner. Don't eat anything 3 hours before you go to bed.
   
2. Eat low-sugar, high-protein snacks
3. Drink a glass or two of water before each meal
4. Choose whole grains for a filling meal of fiber
5. Eat spicy foods to boost metabolism
6. Get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep. A lack of sleep has been shown to increase appetite and cravings for high-calorie foods.
7. Take stairs and walk further in the parking lot to help increase your physical activity.
8. Chew more and eat slowly helps you ingest fewer calories.
9. Walk after meals to lower blood sugar and prevent your body from storing fat.
10. Eating protein helps you feel full, increase muscle mass and increases your metabolism. Eat more cold water fish and legumes.

These people have proven that it is possible to lose weight and keep it off to improve their overall health and fitness levels. It does take, however, healthy lifestyles changes and self-motivation to stick with those healthy lifestyle changes.

Charles

Best Way To Lose Weight And Keep Your Weight Off

What is the best way to lose weight and keep your weight off. We can get good weight loss tips from those that have achieved their weight loss goals. A good place to look is the National Weight Control Registry. This registry includes people who have lost more than 30 pounds and kept their weight off for at least a year. Another source of good information is research results.

The first lesson is that you don't want to lose your weight too quickly. Research has shown that those who slowly decrease their weight by 1 or 2 pounds each week, and keep it off for at least 2 years are most likely to keep their slim figure for the rest of their life. Also, according to the American Family Physician:

• 98% of adults who successfully maintain their weight loss have modified their eating habits.
• 94% have increased their level of physical activity, especially walking.
• 78% eat a healthy breakfast every day.
• 75% weigh themselves weekly.
• 62% watch less than 10 hours of television per week.

We find similar results from the National Weight Control Registry. Their secrets include:

• Exercise - These people burn about 400 Calories per day. This is equivalent to 60 minutes of brisk walking or 35 minutes of jogging. I personally recommend 20 minutes of an interval training routine.
• Eat fewer calories - they consume about 1400 calories each day.
• Watch less TV
• Limit fast food usage, cut back on sweets and sugar and eat more fruits and vegetables.

Research has also shown that low-fat weight loss strategies simply don't work. Those that have tried have actually gained weight on this strategy.

A Mediterranean type of diet appears to work best as far as diet is concerned. The Mediterranean type of diet includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains and fish. Studies have shown that those on a low-fat diet gain weight, while those on a Mediterranean diet lose weight. In addition, only 20 percent on the low fat diet stay on that diet, while half on the Mediterranean diet remain on that diet plan.

Additional Weight Loss Tips

Lose Weight Slowly and Set Realistic Goals - If you cut your intake by just 100 calories each day, which is equivalent to an apple, and exercise for 20 to 30 minutes each day, you can weigh 20 pounds less in one year. Remember that those who lose slowly over a long period of time are most likely to keep their weight off.

Be More Physically Active and Watch Less TV

Keep Track of Your Weight - According to PsychCentral, those that keep track of their weight most often are also those most likely to keep their weight off.

Stay Away From Foods That Spike Your Blood Sugar And Insulin - Foods that spike your blood sugar and insulin quickly, and then crash to low levels contribute to weight gain. Stay away from white bread, white rice, and other processed grain products. Instead eat whole grains, brown rice, steel-cut oats, hulled barley, whole grain breads and pasta, beans, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

Eat Foods With Good Fats - Foods like seeds and nuts contain essential fatty acids that are not only healthy, but help to make you fell full. Also use extra virgin olive oil and canola oils.

Drink More Water - Water helps your to feel full and it has no calories.

Reference: How To Get To Your Healthy Weight

Charles

Burn-Tummy-Fat.com

Hypnosis For Weight Loss

Hypnosis for weight loss is a popular topic with those who are struggling to lose weight. However, does it really work?

There are audio CD's that get good reviews from users, such as " Relax Your Way to Thin! Hypnosis Weight Loss Motivation ". But the clinical groups are a little more skeptical about such methods as CD's and internet hypnosis.

Katherine Zeratcky, who writes articles for the Mayo Clinic, states the problem well in her article " Is Hypnosis Effective For Weight Loss? " There just isn't enough solid scientific evidence about weight loss hypnosis to say for sure that it works or doesn't work for weight loss. She states that if other methods have not worked for you, you may want to give hypnosis a try, but there are no guarantees.

Bianca Hitt at the Vanderbilt University is much more negative on hypnosis for weight loss. In her article " Weight Loss Through Hypnosis? ", she states that hypnosis has achieved some success for low to moderate amounts of weight loss if the treatment is tailored to each individual with long term followup. She states that hypnosis requires a great deal of effort, and that success can not be achieved through "easy" methods such as audio CD's and internet hypnosis.

In another article by Indie Cooper-Guzman, RN, titled " Hypnosis For Weight Loss And Comfort", she stated that her daughter and herself did see some benefit in using hypnosis for weight loss. However, her daughter did regain her weight after an argument with her mother.

The bottom line is that you would just have to try this method yourself to see if it works or not. I may benefit some, but not others. And, there is no scientific guarantee.

For more information on how to lose belly fat, visit burn-tummy-fat.com.

Charles

Best Way To Lose Belly Fat For Life

The best way to lose belly fat for life involves three key components, which are:

• Motivation
• Good Diet Plan
• And a Good Exercise Routine

The whole process can't even start without the proper motivation to lose that belly fat. A recent post titled "Motivation To Lose Weight" is an excellent summary on why motivation is important, and how to maintain your motivation to lose weight and belly fat.
What is important is your ability to maintain your inner motivation during the critical period between the fourth and eight week of your training program. This is easier said than done, which is one of the reasons why most fail to lose weight. That is why it is very important that you find ways to maintain your inner motivation as you struggle to lose weight.
You can find additional help at these sites:

• Motivation Important for Weight Loss
• 10 Ways To Find New Motivation

You also can not lose your belly fat without changing your mindset concerning food and diet. Some of the key points to help you lose weight are:

• Stay away from refined sugars and foods with added sugar or corn syrup
• Replace some of your grain consumption with fruits and vegetables
• When eating grain, eat only 100% whole grain
• Eat high quality proteins from nuts, legumes, seeds and grass fed meats
• Get adequate amounts of essential fatty acids from raw nuts, seeds, avocados, extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil and grass fed meats

When exercising, try doing more full body or total body workouts. This type of exercise works more than one joint and as many major muscle groups all at the same time. With full body exercises, you will lose more weight by increasing your metabolism and fat burning hormone production. A few examples of full body workouts are:

• Dumbbell Lunges
• Dumbbell Squats
• And Bicycle Maneuver Exercise

For more information on the best way to lose belly fat visit burn-tummy-fat.com.
Charles

Motivation To Lose Weight

Everyone has a different motivation to lose weight. However, a study has found that those who are able to sustain a type of motivation called autonomous motivation during the 4 to 16 week period of a weight loss program, were more likely to actually lose weight at the end of the 16 week program.

This conclusion is summarized in a PsychCentral articled titled, "Motivation Important for Weight Loss."

The study defined autonomous motivation as "the feeling that self-control is the best way to help oneself make changes." The group that maintained and increased their feeling of self-control were more successful at losing weight than those who relied on pressure groups and tactics.

The study also concluded that weight loss programs should consider using methods that strengthen autonomous motivation during the critical 4 to 8 week period of the program. This can include more intense support, or activities that encourage and improve autonomous motivation of the weight loss participants.

Not all of us can afford this type of help, however.

There are several methods that you can use to maintain your motivation to lose weight.

The first is called the Motivational Inoculation method that can help you maintain your self-motivation to stick to the weight loss program as described in the article, "What's the Half-Life of Your Motivation for Weight Management?" These are a series of questions that you should ask yourself and honestly ponder. It is a way for you to understand your internal motivation to lose weight and stick with the program.

Another interesting method to find and maintain your motivation to do something is described in the article, " 10 Ways To Find New Motivation ." Basically,

• Think about what losing weight will give you in return. This will help you maintain your focus on continuing with the program.
• Keep reminding yourself why your are trying to lose weight, and why it is important to you.
• Create a list of ten reasons why you should lose weight. Frequently remind yourself of these ten reasons.
• When thinking about your goal to lose weight, use positive words. Thinking in positive terms about your weight loss goal will help you stick to the program and achieve your goal.

Being positive and staying focused on your internal reasons for your goal along with a strong feeling of self-control will help you maintain your motivation to lose weight.

Find additional info at Motivation to Lose Weight - The Key to Success.

Charles

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